How to hire a youth care specialist

How to hire a youth care specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step youth care specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a youth care specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new youth care specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a youth care specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the youth care specialist you need to hire. Certain youth care specialist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect youth care specialist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of youth care specialists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Youth Care Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Youth Care Specialist	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$11-29
   Youth Worker	Youth workers specialize in handling and providing support to young individuals with behavioral difficulties. They are primarily responsible for devising recreational projects, handling the budget, producing progress reports, managing intervention programs, and counseling troubled youth while keeping their information confidential... Show more	$12-19

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Patients
   • CPR
   • Direct Care
   • Social Work
   • Cleanliness
   • Wound Care
   • Incident Reports
   • Independent Living
   • Substance Abuse
   • Patient Care
   • Role Model
   • Direct Supervision
   • Mental Health

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide individualize intervention for problematic behaviors using TCI techniques such as de-escalation, to prevent and/or manage crisis.
   • Transport FEMA trailers and levele foundation using bulldozers and bobcats.
   • Maintain current credentials and certifications as required such as such as CPR and first aid certifications.
   • Provide everyday living activity for autistic individuals, pass medicine, dress patients, help with communication, and restrain patients.
   • Retain proper certifications for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, first aid, driver's license and insurance.

   More youth care specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your youth care specialist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A youth care specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a youth care specialist in Iowa may be lower than in Maryland, and an entry-level youth care specialist usually earns less than a senior-level youth care specialist. Additionally, a youth care specialist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average youth care specialist salary

   $38,955yearly

   $18.73 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level youth care specialist salary

   $24,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average youth care specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Maryland	$54,964	$26
   2	District of Columbia	$53,388	$26
   3	New York	$52,474	$25
   4	California	$47,690	$23
   5	New Mexico	$45,728	$22
   6	Pennsylvania	$42,932	$21
   7	Illinois	$40,816	$20
   8	North Carolina	$39,383	$19
   9	Wisconsin	$37,910	$18
   10	Florida	$37,803	$18
   11	Ohio	$37,387	$18
   12	Colorado	$36,913	$18
   13	Oregon	$35,004	$17
   14	Tennessee	$34,001	$16
   15	Minnesota	$33,983	$16
   16	Michigan	$33,105	$16
   17	Kansas	$32,970	$16
   18	Georgia	$32,822	$16
   19	Arkansas	$32,734	$16
   20	Washington	$32,364	$16

   Average youth care specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Delaware State Government	$55,446	$26.66	11
   2	Lincoln Holdings LLC	$52,718	$25.35
   3	Heritage Care	$48,140	$23.14
   4	The Children's Village	$40,047	$19.25	54
   5	Outagamie County	$39,753	$19.11	1
   6	Community Health Connections	$39,503	$18.99
   7	Mediacom Communications	$39,005	$18.75	14
   8	AMIkids	$38,948	$18.73	61
   9	Good Shepherd Services	$38,418	$18.47	46
   10	HealthTrust	$38,345	$18.44	3
   11	Florida United Methodist Children's Home	$37,743	$18.15	2
   12	Children's Home Society of Florida	$37,537	$18.05	40
   13	Youth Villages	$37,468	$18.01	96
   14	Maryville Academy	$37,453	$18.01	27
   15	Boys & Girls Aid	$37,265	$17.92	8
   16	EmblemHealth	$37,252	$17.91	2
   17	Daiichi Sankyo	$37,201	$17.89
   18	Novant Health	$37,067	$17.82	63
   19	Froedtert South	$36,576	$17.58
   20	Medical City Arlington	$36,175	$17.39

4. Writing a youth care specialist job description

   A youth care specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a youth care specialist job description:

   Youth care specialist job description example

   Salary: $15/HR

   Job Details:
   Provide support to the teacher by helping with supervision, grading, planning, and to assist with other day-to-day activities. Provide supervision and general safety of children and youth and attend to their needs in a nurturing and engaging manner in residential cottages

   Skills:
   Coping skills, good communicator both with the students and fellow staff. proficient in Microsoft outlook and office suite.

   Qualities:
   Role model and positive behavior. Maintain safety and security of students in care and attends to their needs in a nurturing way. Patience and compassion.

   Physical:
   Candidate must be able to pass SCM training and use techniques as taught. Sit or stand at computer for typing. Must be able to hear, see speak, walk and sit. Must be able to use hands and fingers to handle or feel objects, tools or controls.

   Experience:
   Must be 21, must have clean valid driver's license and be able to obtain a class E license

   Education:
   High School or GED required.

   Not quite what you are looking for?

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   PandoLogic. Keywords: Youth Care Worker, Location: Saint James, MO - 65559

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find youth care specialists for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your youth care specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit youth care specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit youth care specialists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new youth care specialist

   Once you've decided on a perfect youth care specialist candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new youth care specialist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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